Robert I
"le Magnifique" ("the Magnificent")

Duke of Normandy, 1027-1035.

When his father Duke Richard II died in 1026, Robert was made
count of Hiémois under his elder brother Richard III as his
share of the inheritance. Less than a year later, Richard III had
died and Robert became duke of Normandy. Having set off on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem early in 1035, Robert died at Nicaea
during the return trip, and was succeeded by his young son
William, later known as William "the Conqueror".

Adelaide, m (1) Enguerrand II,
count of Ponthieu, (2) Lambert, seigneur
of Lens, (3) Eudes, count of Champagne.Stapleton (1836), 350-1, quotes part of a
charter mentioning count (consul) Enguerrand (son of
Berta, daughter of Guerinfridus, who built the castle of
Aumâle), his wife Addelidis, daughter of king William of
England, countess Addelidis, daughter of Enguerrand and Addelidis
aforesaid, and countess Judith (daughter of Addelidis the
mother). Robert de Torigny, in his additions to GND, states in
one place that Stephen, count of Aumâle, was son of count Eudes
of Champagne and a nephew of William the elder through a sister
("... Stephanus, comes de Albamarla filius Odonis
comitis de Campania, Willelmi autem regis Anglorum senioris ex
sorore nepos ...") [GND (Rob. Tor.), viii, 3 (vol. 2,
pp. 206-7)], and in another that Waltheof, earl of Huntingdon,
had three daughters by his wife, a daughter of the countess of
Aumâle, who had been a "uterine sister" of William
("Habuit enim idem Walleus tres filias ex uxore sua,
filia comitisse de Albamarla, que comitissa fuit soror uterina
Willelmi regis Anglorum senioris.") [GND (Rob. Tor.)
viii, 37 (vol. 2, pp. 270-3)]. The Chronicle of Robert de
Torigny states that Robert's daughter "Aeliz" (not
strictly the same name as "Adelaide", but often
confused with it, both then and now) was by a concubine other
than Herleva ("... Robertus frater eius, qui genuit
Willermum de Herleva non sponsata, qui postea Angliam
conquisivit, et unam filiam nomine Aeliz de alia concubina.")
[s.a. 1026, MGH SS 6, 478]. The name of Adelaide's second husband
Lambert comes from two Scottish sources. The "Life of
Waltheof" states that Waltheof's wife Judith was a niece of
William the Conqueror, a daughter of count Lambert of Lens, and a
sister of count Stephen of Aumâle [translation of relevant
passage given in ESSH 2: 33], and the Chronicle of the Canons of
Huntingdon also states that Judith was a daughter of count
Lambert of Lens [ESSH 2: 28].
The above stated evidence combines to give a consistent picture
for Adelaide's three marriages listed above. The evidence
presents some minor problems, but they do not seem to be serious.
Stapleton (1836) argued that count Eudes was married to the
younger Adelaide, daughter of the present Adelaide by her first
husband Enguerrand, but the evidence is consistent in making the
younger Adelaide, Judith, and Stephen the children of Adelaide by
three different husbands (although no single source gives all of
this information). The most significant contradiction would
appear to be Robert de Torigny's statement in one place that
Adelaide was "soror uterina" to William, but,
as pointed out Elisabeth van Houts, Robert uses the same
adjective "uterine" in one other place to refer to duke
Richard II of Normandy and his paternal half-brother
count William of Eu [GND (Rob. Tor.), vii, (20) (vol. 2, pp.
128-8); van Houts (2002), 23, n. 22]. Thus, the evidence clearly
suggests that William and Adelaide had different mothers.
(Geoffrey White had left the matter of Adelaide's maternity open
in his discussion of William's siblings in The Complete
Peerage [White].) Another problem concerns Adelaide's second
marriage to count Lambert of Lens. Morton & Muntz (1972),
127, stating that the Life of Waltheof was the only source for
the second marriage (but erroneously, as the Chronicle of the
Canons of Huntingdon also mentions Lambert as Judith's father:
see the previous paragraph), and noting that Lambert died less
than a year after Enguerrand, suggested that no such marriage
took place. However, Barlow (1999), xlv, pointed out that
Enguerrand was excommunicated in 1049 for "incest"
(evidently because Enguerrand's sister had been married to
Adelaide's uncle), leaving open the possibility that Lambert had
married Adelaide before 1053.
[Note: Adelaide and her daughter Judith were the subject of
numerous discussions on the soc.genealogy.medieval/GEN-MEDIEVAL
internet newsgroup/mailing list in March 2003, of which postings
by Chris Phillips (pointing out the van Houts paper and the Tabularia
website), Douglas Richardson (pointing out that the Life of
Waltheof was not the only source naming Lambert as the father of
Judith) and Nathaniel Taylor (pointing out the discussion in Carmen
de Hastingae Proelio) were particularly helpful.]

Commentary

Possible spouse or
intended spouse (of Robert or his father Richard II):
Estrid/Margaret, daughter of Svend
I, king of Denmark.
Rodulfus Glaber, 108, states that Robert was married to a sister
(not named) of king Canute, and that he was father of William by
a concubine. Adam of Bremen [Book 2, chapter liv(52), p. 92], who
obtained some of his information from king Svend II (son of
Estrid by her marriage to jarl Ulf), stated that before her
marriage to Ulf, Svend's mother Margaret (called Estrid in other
sources) was married to Richard (II) of Normandy, father of
Robert, but then goes on to show confusion by saying that
Margaret married Ulf after Richard set out for Jurusalem, where
he died. (Richard did not set out for Jeruslaem, but Robert did.)
Unfortunately, there are significant problems with the statement
that Estrid married either Richard or Robert, discussed in detail
by Douglas [Douglas (1950), 292-5]. Nevertheless, despite the
problems, it is difficult to believe that there is nothing to
these two similar, and apparently independent, accounts of two
near contemporary writers. Given the difficulty of reconciling a
marriage with the evidence, a possible betrothal of Estrid to
either Robert or Richard II would seem like a reasonable
alternative.

GND = Guillaume de Jumièges, Gesta
Normannorum Ducum, as edited in Elisabeth van Houts, ed.
& trans., The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of
Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni, 2 vols.,
(Oxford, 1992). Citation is by book and chapter of Guillaume's
work, with the volume and page number of the edition by van Houts
in parentheses. Unless otherwise stated, references are to
Guillaume's work, and not to later additions by such authors as
Orderic Vitalis and Robert de Torigny.